Just five months ago, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said Eternals was "one of many, many, many things that we are actively beginning to have creative discussions about to see if we believe in them enough to put them on a slate." Now, the possibility has become a reality and Eternals is moving forward to the next level.

While not officially greenlight and set for production or a release date just yet, Eternals does have writers and a director in place, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Check out everything we know about the movie and the comic books it's based on below.

Who are the Eternals?

In Marvel Comics, the Eternals are a race of near-immortal super-powered beings spawned from early proto-humans. They were created through genetic experimentation by the ancient cosmic entities the Celestials (seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies), as were the Eternals' enemy race, the monstrous Deviants.

So they're not aliens?

No, the Eternals have lived on Earth for a million years alongside humans and Deviants, sometimes interacting during events that became classic myths (the one called Ikaris, for example, is the father of the Icarus of Greek legend -- they're like Forrest Gumps, the lot of them). Some Eternals did leave and colonize Uranus and other planets, but the main group in the comics remained here.

Which Eternals will the movie focus on?

Reportedly, the main characters of Eternals will be Sersi and Ikaris. The former can "manipulate cosmic energy to grant herself virtual immortality and invulnerability, reshape the molecules of other people or objects, release heat, light and other energies from her eyes and hands, fly, teleport herself and others, and cast illusions," per Marvel.com. She also wishes to integrate with humans.

Ikaris is a 20,000-year-old Eternal fueled by cosmic energy and is nearly invulnerable. He has been one of the leaders of the Eternals and brought about their introduction to the rest of the world as superheroes. Whether this happens in the movie is unknown, and currently, the era of the plot has yet to be revealed. For all we know, the movie could be set millennia ago.

So Eternals could possibly not even crossover with the rest of the MCU?

At the moment, we don't even know what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is like after Avengers 4. The MCU titles might not have the same sort of intersections we've been seeing. So we probably won't be seeing them introduced in Captain Marvel. Maybe their names could be teased, though.

In a way, the Eternals have already been sort of introduced in the MCU already, however. Thanos, big bad of the franchise and Avengers: Infinity War in particular, is the son of two Eternals who had settled on Titan. But he doesn't look human, as Eternals tend to, because he has Deviant genes.

Thanos' Eternal father, A'lars (aka Mentor), was named in Infinity War by Red Skull upon his arrival on Vormir (see below). Perhaps the Eternals movie could go back and set up both the origin of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Thanos, the latter as a prequel set up to the villain's backstory.

Who is directing the Eternals movie?

Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao, best known for last year's award-winning contemporary Western indie The Rider, has been hired to take the helm of Eternals after having been shortlisted for the gig directing Black Widow.

Were there other candidates shortlisted for Eternals?

Nicole Kassell (Westworld), Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and the team of Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Birds of Passage).

Who are the writers?

Matthew and Ryan Firpo, siblings who've separately made short films and who landed on the 2017 Black List for their hot script Ruin, have apparently already written the script for Eternals.

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